Lying & Falling In Love: An Experiment
by whenidance
Summary: When a false rumor spreads around Dalton about Blaine losing his virginity to a guy from WCC, Blaine Anderson tries to let it roll off his back, but when Kurt transfers, he gets a bit in over his head.  Easy A inspired
1. Chapter 1

**Notes: This was written for the Glee At The Movies Big Bang over on Livejournal. There are a few other extra goodies over there if anyone wants to check it out (the link is in my profile, my writing username there is theonewithfics).**

_So, let me get one thing perfectly straight: the rumors of my promiscuity have been greatly exaggerated._

_No pun intended with the straight thing. Let me also get that out of the way right now - despite the rumors, ladies, I can assure you I'm definitely one hundred percent gay._

_Which is sort of how we got here. I'm not like most of you. I haven't been going to private school since kindergarten. I don't know everyone's intimate personal details and backstories other than what I've learned in the past year and a half. I transferred to Dalton last year because ... well, I was beat up pretty bad at the public school I used to go to. Don't worry, this isn't going to turn into some gay bashing woe-is-me tale. In fact, this could have never happened at my old school - __**no one**__ would have approached me to perpetuate this nonsense. Which is why I'm surprised in part that it got as far as it did. I'm used to being the only gay in the village, so to speak._

_I digress. Let the record show that I, Blaine Anderson, solemnly swear to tell the whole truth - starting right now._

_Because, really, in this day and age, what better way to share your most intimate thoughts than to put them on Tumblr?_

_So, students of Dalton and Crawford, faculty, parents, whoever might be watching - let's get on with it._

_Part One - The shudder inducing and clichéd, however totally false account of how I lost my virginity to a guy at Westerville Community College._

Blaine and Tina had been best friends since the very first Dalton/Crawford mixer Blaine had attended, back in sophomore year, when his arm had still been in a cast. He would have never even gone if his 'big brother' Wes hadn't dragged him against his will. (Blaine liked Wes, the two had grown to become great friends, he just didn't like the idea that the school had enlisted an upperclassman to look out for him like they normally did to all the freshmen.)

Blaine and Tina had both stood against the wall, watching everyone else dance, until finally Blaine made a lame joke about the bright pink frock one of the blonde girls was wearing (Quinn Fabray, Tina later informed him). Tina had giggled, and they'd spent the rest of the night critiquing everyone's wardrobes.

Blaine was eternally grateful for the friendship they'd formed over the past year - but if there was one thing he couldn't deal with, it was her parents. The moment they'd found out Blaine was like, a quarter Filipino, they'd started including him in all of their strictly-Asian activities. This normally included Tina's mother probing as to why Blaine and Tina weren't dating. Over and over again.

So, when Tina brought up going to the Asian Festival in Columbus that weekend, Blaine knew he had to come up with an excuse. He couldn't use the Warblers, the a capella group he'd been thrust to the forefront of this year, because Wes was on the council. He knew Wes's mom would be dragging him as well. It was too risky that Wes and Tina would see each other, even though there would be thousands of people. Tina's mom would probably try to set them up too. (Which, to his credit, Blaine had tried setting Tina up with Wes after the fifth time Mrs. Cohen-Chang brought up the possibility of Blaine himself dating Tina. Tina wasn't having it though - _Blaine, Wes is a nice guy, but just a tad rigid for me._ Tina had added more purple streaks in her hair that night, probably to spite him.)

"I can't," Blaine lied. He was normally a very bad liar. He didn't come off convincing at all. Tina would see right through him, he was sure of it. "I have plans."

Tina rolled her eyes as they sat on a quilt in the shared Dalton/Crawford courtyard, eating their bagged lunches. "What kind of plans? You never have plans."

"I have a date." It was the first thing that slipped out of his mouth and Blaine instantly groaned. Blaine hadn't dated since he transferred to Dalton, and Tina knew that. For all of Dalton's _no harassment policy_ and such, there still weren't a ton of openly gay guys for him to pick from. That he knew of, at least.

Tina picked the crust off her sandwich and narrowed her vision. This was so not going to fly. "With who? Did some unsuspecting Warbler finally come out and you forgot to tell me?"

"No. You don't know him. He doesn't go here," Blaine added, after Tina gave him a face telling him she knew _everybody_ between their two schools even if they didn't know her. "I - I met him at that PFLAG meeting I went to at the beginning of the school year, the one in Columbus." There. That might work.

They ate in silence for a few minutes before Tina finally asked, "What's his name?"

"Jeremiah," Blaine said, saying the first name that popped into his mind from the meeting's members.

Tina squealed. Oh, shit. He had actually mentioned Jeremiah before, hadn't he? Damnit, Tina. Damnit, Tina and her ability to remember every piece of gossip that ever crossed her ears. "Blaine! Why didn't you tell me about this date with Jeremiah until right now? The guy with the gorgeous hair? This is huge!" She leapt across the blanket to tackle him, which made Blaine feel awful for lying. He was a horrible, horrible person.

"It just happened, seriously. We'd been emailing and he suggested meeting for coffee, I don't even know if it's a date, Tina!"

She just grinned wickedly. Perhaps he was a better liar than he thought. "I'll expect details Monday."

Blaine spent most of his weekend reorganizing his bow tie collection and singing Katy Perry and Pink songs loudly, trying to figure out how he could get the Warbler council to approve a few of them. 'Teenage Dream' would be brilliant.

Unfortunately, not one moment of his weekend was spent concocting a fake-date-with-Jeremiah story to tell Tina. He hadn't even _been_ to a Lima Bean lately. So, when she was waiting for him outside his fourth-period English Lit class with Ms. Holiday, his first thought was how she got out of her own fourth period early enough to run across two campuses and a courtyard.

"I pretended to be sick," she whispered, getting some odd looks from Blaine's fellow classmates as she linked arms with him and dragged him to the courtyard. "Why didn't you respond to any of my texts?"

Blaine met Tina's accusing eye. "I don't know, I was busy? You know, with school. And stuff."

"What kind of stuff? Seriously, tell me about Saturday!" They passed through the Dalton doors, Tina heading quickly through the courtyard back to the Crawford cafeteria - she must have forgotten her lunch.

"I don't know, it was nice. _He_ was nice." Blaine pursed his lips. He was saying nice way too many times to be believable. "We had a lot in common, but I don't think I'll see him again. It was a great weekend, though."

Just as they passed through the Crawford doors, Tina stopped in her tracks to stare at him. "Weekend? You didn't just get coffee?"

Crap. Why didn't he have a story all prepared again? "Well, we went for coffee," Blaine started, awkwardly, "and then we went for dinner, and then ..." Blaine trailed off. He was so screwed. He hoped Tina wouldn't be too pissed.

Tina's eyes grew wide. "You totally slept with him, didn't you? He goes to WCC, he probably has an apartment. You totally went back to his place and lost your virginity!" Tina's excitement was growing with each word, she was practically vibrating.

"No, Tina, I didn't -" Blaine sighed and tried to fix it all, but Tina had pulled him into one of the bathrooms. "Tina, I definitely can't be in here."

"Shhhh," she shushed. "There's no one in here. Now, spill it."

"Tina, I didn't sleep with him, I'm not that kind of guy." Blaine was getting more and more frustrated. He'd just have to tell her he didn't want to go to the festival with her parents and that he'd made it all up.

"The kind of guy who puts out on the first date or the kind of guy who doesn't tell his best friend the details?" Tina whispered fiercely. "Because you're totally the first one, you better not be the second one."

Blaine felt horrible about what came out of his mouth next, but it was just Tina. Even though she _was_ one of the biggest gossips between the two schools, she'd probably keep it quiet. No one else would ever know. It's not even like it would be the first time he lied about something like this. He totally bribed Sarah Barnes into saying they made out during seven minutes in heaven in the sixth grade by offering her his history notes.

"Okay, okay!" Blaine hissed. "You got me! It was sweet and romantic and wonderful, but I have no desire to see him again."

Tina punched him on the arm. "Good for you! I always knew you had it in you!"

"Tina! That's not -" Blaine stopped speaking when a bathroom stall door opened.

Quinn Fabray. Head Crawford cheerleader and co-president of the Celibacy Club with her boyfriend, Blaine's fellow Warbler, Thad. She looked them both up and down, her expression cold, as she washed her hands and readjusted her cheerleading skirt. "Blaine, you shouldn't be in here, this is a _girl's_ restroom. Just because you had sex this weekend with some random loser from WCC, you are _not_ an honorary girl."

Blaine's jaw dropped. Did she _actually_ just say that to him? "Quinn, I would really appreciate it if you kept anything you heard to yourself."

Quinn squinted at him. Quinn had never liked Blaine, not after David drunkenly joked about how Thad used to have a crush on Blaine at their end of year Warbler's party. Word had gotten back to Blaine that Quinn had tried to convince Thad that there were many other deserving upperclassmen who should be frontrunner for the Warblers this year, anyone but _Blaine._ In the end, the council had chosen Blaine all the same, and Quinn tried to murder him with her looks every chance she got. Of anyone that could have been in the restroom, why _Quinn_?

She turned on her heel and passed with a noncommittal _mmm-hmm_ before exiting the bathroom.

Blaine was _so screwed._

_Part two - As I like to call, a scientific documentation on how fast lies spread._

By the beginning of fifth period, everyone at Dalton knew all about Blaine's supposed hookup, and he figured it was just as bad over at Crawford. Blaine kept his head held high and ignored any whispers – it was nothing worse than his old school. Everyone would probably forget in a few days, once Santana Lopez was worried about someone stealing her thunder and made out with the whole lacrosse team.

Mondays meant Warbler practice, so Blaine trudged down the hall, pulling the Katy Perry and Pink sheet music from his leather bag. Blaine had already talked to Wes that morning. Wes told him to make a formal presentation at the meeting – hopefully this was just what he needed to get past the rumor nonsense. The council didn't always allow formal presentations for song selections, so Blaine was grateful for Wes's offer.

He walked down the hall to the Warbler's study and saw Quinn leaving. She must have walked Thad. "Hey, Quinn," Blaine said, smiling at her brightly even though he was met with an icy stare. "Listen, about what you heard earlier, it actually didn't happen like –"

Quinn just raised her perfectly-tweezed eyebrows at him. "Blaine, I'm just happy that you've moved on from Thad."

Great, now Quinn convoluted that story into _Blaine_ liking _Thad_. Which, Thad was nice and all, but not really Blaine's type.

Quinn pursed her lips before continuing. "Though, from what you told Tina, I'm not sure if your loverboy wants to move on with you. _Not going to see him again_? I can read between the lines, Blaine. I'm sure he doesn't want to see you again and you're just saving face."

Blaine's jaw dropped. So, now his non-existent date hated him? What could he _say_ to that?

Quinn inched closer, smiling smugly. "Now, you know there's always a place for you in Celibacy Club, Blaine. We can help guide you on the right path." She patted at Blaine's shoulder, leaving him speechless and outraged in the hall.

A few fellow Warblers whizzed by, trying to make it look like they hadn't been watching the whole exchange, but as it was pointed out earlier – Dalton boys are inherently bad liars. Blaine sighed and gripped the strap of his bag before heading into the study.

Blaine settled into his normal seat on the couch, trying to avoid anyone's eye. He could feel their stares on his face. He pulled out his phone to make sure it was shut to silent and saw he had about five missed texts – the first one popping up from Jeff asking if the guy he hooked up with was really a college senior. Which, Westerville Community College didn't even _have_ seniors. He turned it off completely and dropped it back in his bag.

Wes called the meeting to order, David going over some housekeeping items on the agenda that Blaine frankly tuned out. It wasn't until he heard Wes mention his name that he snapped back to attention. Everyone was staring at him. Right. Songs.

Blaine handed out the packets he'd prepared over the weekend, when he was unfortunately not having sex like the rest of the school thought. He took a deep breath to pull himself together – he was the face of the Warblers, he couldn't crumble under pressure. 

His presentation had gone surprisingly well. The council really liked the idea of 'Teenage Dream,' and Wes proclaimed it their next piece. They'd start work on it on Wednesday. He walked through his front door that afternoon feeling a mixture of accomplishment and defeat, all at the same time, which was really weird. His parents were already in the kitchen cooking dinner. "Hi honey," his mom said with a quick kiss to his cheek, her hands covered in oven mitts. "Break any hearts today?"

It was her standard after school greeting, but today it hit a little close to home. "Only a few," he replied without his usual enthusiasm - he hoped no one would notice. He snuck a carrot from the serving dish and munched on it thoughtfully.

"Everything okay over there in the wonderful land of prep school?" Blaine's dad asked with raised eyebrows. "It doesn't look like it."

Shit.

"Everything's fine," Blaine said quickly, heading over to the cupboard to pull out the plates to set the table. "Just - you know I was here working all weekend on Warbler stuff right?"

"Of course, dear. Did your friends like those songs?" his mom asked, looking up from the pot of rice she was stirring.

Blaine smiled to himself as he set three plates on the table. "Yeah, they did. Everything's going to be fine."

At least he hoped so. 

_Part three – If you're trying to get a whole school to forget about you getting laid, this is what __**not**__ to do._

_High school is a weird place. I wasn't really on anyone's radar before - I mean, the Warblers are like rockstars around here, but everyone just saw me as that kid who sang really well and sometimes jumped on furniture. If anyone could spread a rumor, it was Quinn Fabray, and if there was anyone who hadn't heard of my supposed exploits on Monday, they for sure had by Tuesday. _

Blaine kept out of people's way for the most part on Tuesday. He raced out of Ms. Holiday's class before lunch to avoid Tina, hiding out in the back of the library and ignoring her texts. He was able to knock out a first draft of his Lit homework – they were reading 'The Scarlet Letter,' how fitting – with time still left over to get together his notes for his meeting with Rachel Berry that afternoon.

Rachel Berry was the star of the Crawford County Day Chickadees – basically the female version of Dalton's Warblers. The pair got together every other Tuesday to brief each other and in non-competing times, come up with ways to get the two groups to interact more. Tina was a Chickadee as well, and she always made fun of Blaine for getting along so well with Rachel. Sure, Rachel was a little … overbearing, but when she was alone and didn't have an audience, she was much easier to deal with. Last year, the Chickadees had gone all the way to Nationals, beating out the Warblers at Regionals and Blaine was determined to reverse that this year.

Just like last year, the Chickadees and Warblers wouldn't meet until at least Regionals, so Blaine and Rachel were free to talk about their Sectionals plans. Blaine was explaining their plans for 'Teenage Dream' when he realized Rachel wasn't paying attention to him at all. He stopped talking for a full minute, her face schooled as if she was listening intently, even though she obviously wasn't, and she finally snapped to attention. "Sorry, Blaine, you were saying?" Rachel asked as if nothing was wrong, but her cheeks tinged a deep pink.

Blaine laughed. "What is up with you? You're never one to ignore my trade secrets." He cocked his head a bit, inspecting her face and looking for clues before saying, "Seriously, if you want to talk about it, I'm all ears."

Rachel seemed deep in deliberation, her brow furrowing as if she wasn't sure if she should tell Blaine or not. "Well, due to your recent …_developments_ … you might just be the right person to help me with this." It was Blaine's turn to blush at that point, and oh god, if Rachel only knew the truth. She pursed her lips before continuing. "Finn Hudson. The lacrosse player you tried to recruit for the Warblers after Nick heard him singing in the locker room. I'm helplessly in love with him and I don't think he knows I exist."

Blaine blinked for a moment. "The Finn Hudson who used to date Santana?"

Rachel nodded, sighing with happiness, and Blaine realized she really _did_ believe she was in love with him. "Santana never treated him right, I would, Blaine! I'm just not even on his radar since we don't exactly run in the same circles."

Blaine thought it best to not bring up the fact that _everyone_ knew who Rachel Berry was, and that was probably a bigger problem than Finn not knowing her at all. "Well, Rachel, despite whatever you've heard, I've never actually been in love, so I don't know if I'll be much help."

Rachel's face fell for a moment, as if the thought of Blaine, one of her best (and only) friends losing his virginity to someone he didn't love was too much to handle, but then it was if a light bulb went off over her head. "But, no, actually, that might be perfect for my plan!" Rachel exclaimed, giddy with excitement. Blaine was almost afraid to hear her plan. "I was thinking I need some scandal to get him to notice me – I mean, drawing from your experience, you're on a _lot_ more radars ever since Quinn overheard you tell Tina about – well, about this weekend, so I was thinking if _I_slept with someone, then I would obviously be on Finn's radar then, and since you're apparently the type of guy who sleeps with people he doesn't love …"

Rachel was giving Blaine what he and Tina called her crazy face, all serious with big doe eyes. She was certifiably insane this time. Off her rocker. Blaine's own eyes bugged out of his head and he sunk back in his chair a little in an attempt to get further away from her, the metal scraping loudly on the tile floor.

Blaine took a deep breath before speaking. "Okay, first of all, Rachel, I'm gay. You know this. That means I like guys." Rachel's face fell again, and at least he was letting her down easy, right? "Secondly, is that really how you want to go about getting Finn's attention? It would be for all the wrong reasons, Rachel, you're better than that." Rachel nodded and looked down at her lap and she looked like she was going to _cry_ so at least Blaine could tell her the truth to make her feel better. "To top it all off, that rumor isn't even true. I'm still a virgin as much as you are." He pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and passed it to her.

Rachel dabbed at her eyes, Blaine recognizing that her face had been schooled back into her fake crying look (upon meeting Blaine for the first time, she informed him that she could cry on cue and Blaine had the pleasure of seeing her talent on many of an occasion). "But … if all that's not true … why, Blaine? Why don't you just come out and say it isn't true?"

"Because it was a stupid rash decision to lie to Tina and I shouldn't have made it, because Tina is my friend and I should be able to be honest with her. I had no idea Quinn would overhear and tell the rest of the school and … well, I guess I look at it as an unfortunate consequence to a really bad decision. It doesn't matter. I don't really care what the rest of the school thinks." That last bit was kind of a lie. He would tell that to people but deep down Blaine had this insatiable need to be liked by everyone. The consequence part was true at least and everything _would_ blow over eventually.

Rachel passed him back his mostly-dry handkerchief and he shoved it back in his pocket. She looked at Blaine silently for a while, as if she was analyzing his expression. "What I'm going to say, Blaine – well, don't take it the wrong way."

Blaine laughed loudly and leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. He was fairly certain whatever was about to come out of Rachel's mouth would be borderline offensive, to say the least. "Go ahead, Rachel, I can take it."

"Well, you're right. I am better than sleeping with some guy just to impress another guy. Realistically, that would be stupid. But … if it didn't have to actually happen … you haven't seen the way people are looking at you, Blaine. You think they're just staring and whispering behind your back, but you were always – well, like I said, don't take this the wrong way, but you were sort of unapproachable before, Blaine. Everyone sort of assumed you wouldn't want to date after what happened at your old school, and you're insanely talented – though not as talented as me, of course – but I do know what talent does to alienate one from their peers."

Blaine frowned to himself before. He'd never really thought he was _unapproachable_ of all things. Was that really how people felt about him? He made a mental note to ask Tina later. "What's your point, Rachel?" Blaine said, a little more curtly than he normally would, but he wasn't sure how much more of this he could take.

"My point is - _you're_ now on people's radars for reasons other than your talent and you didn't even have to actually have sex. If I did the same thing … and well, you already said you don't care what other people think of you …" Rachel looked at him with the crazy face again.

Oh, god. She was implying – she actually expected him to let people think he'd slept with her?

"Rachel," he stammered, "I don't really care all that much about what people think of me, but letting people think I slept with some guy that I barely know who goes to school miles away is extremely different than letting people think I slept with someone who isn't even … the same sexual orientation as I am!" He actually wanted to say worse things, much worse, but that would do. No use in making her cry again.

Rachel reached out for his hands and Blaine fought the urge to pull them away. "Just think of it as a role, Blaine. You and I, we're both extremely talented. We could pull this off. What's the difference in letting people think you're bisexual instead of gay?"

"Lots of things, Rachel. Like the fact that I don't actually like girls," Blaine deadpanned. "That's … a pretty big difference." Blaine sighed loudly and ran a hand through his hair.

"I've got it all figured out, though! The perfect setup – my dads will be out of town this weekend. I'll host a party! A Warbler and Chickadee mixer!" Rachel exclaimed, eyes wide with excitement. At the sight of Blaine's face, hers softened and she patted his leg. "Listen. I'll plan the party anyways, and you take the rest of the week to decide. If you say no, well, at least we'll get a good get together out of this, right? But ... it would really mean a lot to me, Blaine. I don't think I've ever told you this, but you're one of my best friends."

Blaine was almost touched. Almost. "Will there be alcohol?" Blaine asked wearily. At least if everyone was drinking, he could pass it off as a drunken mistake.

Rachel's eyes were twinkling. "I can make that happen." 

Rachel had sent Blaine a text on Wednesday that she now owed Noah Puckerman a very large favor at some point, because thanks to him, she'd procured more than enough alcohol for the party Saturday night. Everything was set and everyone couldn't stop talking about it. Most of the Warblers wondered what had gotten into Rachel – a raging party wasn't something she'd normally host. Rachel wasn't as uptight about things as Wes, but … comparisons had been made. Blaine didn't want everyone to forget about Sectionals coming up, so he texted Rachel back suggesting a little impromptu showcase of their Sectionals songs in the courtyard on Friday during lunch. Rachel, of course, loved the idea. Mass texts were sent out, and it was set.

Blaine spent the next few lunch periods hiding out in the library again, feigning massive amounts of homework to Tina. Finally, Friday morning Tina had apparently had enough, because she was waiting in the parking lot next to his normal space.

"Done avoiding me yet?" she teased, pulling open the door to Blaine's car for him.

"I'm not avoiding you, Tina," he lied, pulling his messenger bag from the back seat. "Things are just … crazy right now with Sectionals coming up. I'm surprised Rachel doesn't have you all practicing every waking minute. Yours is sooner than ours."

Tina just rolled her eyes and linked her arm with his as they walked. "Speaking of Rachel, you are going to her thing tomorrow night, aren't you? You're not going to make me face that disaster alone too?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be there. You didn't have to hear her go on and on about it for an hour on Tuesday. I'm pretty sure she'd kill me if I wasn't." Tina laughed and patted Blaine on the arm, and if she really knew the whole story, she'd kill him.

Speaking of. "Tina, do people think I'm unapproachable?"

She looked at him for a moment like he was crazy. "Of course they do. Well, probably not the Warblers, but the rest of the student body. I thought you knew this. That's what you get for talking like an adult most of the time like the rest of the Warblers. If you acted as goofy as you are around me the rest of the time, you'd be fine."

Blaine stopped in his tracks. "Tina! Why didn't you ever tell me?" He punched her arm, though much more lightly than she had on Monday. "I thought everyone thought of the Warblers as rockstars."

Tina rolled her eyes again and she was going to strain them at this rate. "Of course they do. Think about it – are you just going to roll up to Lady Gaga and ask her what's up? No!" She looked at Blaine for a moment. "You're over thinking it – no one thinks you're Wes levels of un-fun or anything."

Blaine still felt frustrated with the whole thing, but Tina grabbed his arm once more and pulled him along. "Come on, fellow rockstar. Time to get to class before our big lunchtime performance."

The unapproachable thing was still bothering Blaine all throughout his classes that morning. Finally, in between second and third period, he sent Rachel a text saying simply _I'm in._

It was no secret that Ms. Holiday was a fan of the Warblers, so she let them out a few minutes early that day after hearing about their performance. It seemed like all of the teachers had the same idea, because by the time Blaine made it to the staircase, it was a crowded mess with everyone rushing to get outside.

He pulled his watch out of his pocket to check the time – no, it really was early, why was everyone out in the halls? Blaine was about to pull out his phone to call Rachel and see if he'd misunderstood and they were performing early when he felt a hand on his shoulder, with a warm 'excuse me,' and in that moment, Blaine's entire world shifted. 

Blaine might have been showing off a little during 'Teenage Dream.' He hadn't been able to take his eyes off the new kid – Kurt, he'd said his name was Kurt – and he was worried about it affecting his performance. It had paid off, though, his fellow Warblers patting him on the back and Wes declaring it the best performance they'd ever done in the three years he'd been a Warbler. Rachel, Tina, and the rest of the Chickadees had been spectacular as well in their rendition of 'Rolling In The Deep.'

Blaine made his way to the edge of the crowd to find Tina and he finally spotted her, hugging Kurt, of all people. This was fantastic, he thought to himself. He'd only briefly interacted with Kurt on the walk to the courtyard, but there was something about him – something that made Blaine want to get to know him better.

"Blaine!" Tina exclaimed when she saw him walking over. She reached out for his arm and pulled him closer. "Blaine, this is Kurt, he's new here."

Kurt nodded, glancing towards Blaine. "I've actually already met Blaine. He was nice enough to show me where the courtyard was and explain to me what was going on. You were amazing out there," Kurt added, smiling slightly at Blaine. Blaine laughed lightly and ducked his head, suddenly bashful of the praise.

"Oh, good!" Tina replied, tightening her grip on Blaine's arm, which surely meant he would need to explain everything to her later. "Kurt and I went to the same middle school – we were in choir together."

"Choir?" Blaine repeated, his ears perking up at the word. "So, you can sing too, then. The Warblers are always looking for new talent."

Kurt let out a shaky laugh. "Oh, I don't know. You all looked like you've been rehearsing that for a while now. I'd hate to jeopardize your chances at Sectionals."

Blaine grinned wildly. "That was only after three days of practice. You'll have no trouble, I'm sure."

Blaine watched Kurt bite the corner of his lip, probably to keep from smiling. Was he being too flirtatious? He didn't really care. "Okay, I'll think about it," Kurt finally said.

"I'll hold you to that," Blaine said with a wink, and jumped a little when Tina tightened her grip on his arm again. He'd almost forgotten she was there.

"You'd make a wonderful addition, Kurt, I'm sure. I'm starving though – do you want to eat lunch with us?" Tina smiled brightly at Kurt and Blaine was almost positive he was losing all feeling in his arm at this point.

"Thanks for the offer, but I have to go meet with Mr. Schuster. They're still trying to finalize my schedule. Next time?" Kurt shifted his messenger bag and turned back towards the building.

"Welcome to Dalton!" Blaine called out as he left, waving until Tina reached up and grabbed his hand down.

"What are you doing flirting with him?" Tina hissed, dragging him over to their usual lunch spot.

"What are you doing keeping cute gay friends from me?" he retorted, pulling his lunch from his bag. He waited as Tina spread out their quilt, plopping down beside her once she was done.

"We're not really still friends," Tina protested. "I mean, we're Facebook friends, but he's never on, and he is friends with Mike since they both go to McKinley … or Kurt used to at least."

"Wait a second. Mike as in Asian Camp Mike? From this summer?" Blaine narrowed his eyes at Tina. "I can't believe you gave me a hard time about talking to Jeremiah, when you didn't tell me you were talking to Mike!"

"It hasn't been for long! I may have invited him to Rachel's party tomorrow because you've been weird all week and I thought you were going to bail on me." Tina frowned and patted Blaine's knee. "I'm sorry, okay? Let's get back to Kurt. I think you like Kurt." Tina nudged him with her shoulder.

"I might like Kurt, what of it?" Blaine said, a little defensively. "Now, are you going to be a good friend and tell me everything you know about him, or what?"

"That's my Blaine." Tina grinned delightedly before popping a grape in her mouth. "Well, I know he was having a hard time with people being jerks at McKinley. I would bet he transferred because of that. His stepbrother is Finn Hudson, the one here on a lacrosse scholarship."

"Oh," Blaine said, a little deflated. Something pretty serious must have happened for Kurt to transfer mid semester instead of at the beginning of the year with Finn. Blaine himself had transferred mid semester. "Do you know – do you know what happened?"

Tina shook her head. "I can ask Mike tomorrow though," she said, hopefully.

Crap. Tomorrow was Rachel's party. He'd just agreed hours before to let Rachel pretend to hook up with him. Kurt probably had enough problems without being dragged into Blaine's own mess of a life. What was he going to do, ask Kurt out when he'd known him all of ten minutes? Blaine shook his head. "Thanks for the offer, Tina, but maybe I should let Kurt settle in a bit first."

"Suit yourself," she said, shrugging. "Now that you know about Mike – what should I _wear_ tomorrow?" 

Blaine had told his parents he was going over to Rachel's to work on things for the joint Warbler/Chickadee Annual Showcase that was held every December – it was six weeks off, but it always helped to be prepared, Blaine had told them. He also told them he might crash at her place if it got too late – he was thinking he would need a _lot_ of alcohol in his system to make people believe he would actually sleep with Rachel Berry. The last thing he wanted was for any of this to get back to his parents.

He prolonged the inevitable as long as possible. Three texts from Rachel later (_Are you on your way yet? xoxo, Rachel_, _There are 30 people here already and you're not one of them, xoxo, Rachel_, _BLAINE WARBLER, DO NOT MAKE ME COME OVER TO YOUR HOUSE. xoxo, Rachel_), Blaine figured he should at least get ready. His mom finally poked her head in and asked if he was even still _going_.

Rachel's street was fairly deserted for someone hosting a raging party, so Blaine didn't have any trouble finding a place to park. He slowly wandered into Rachel's house and down the stairs to her basement to find at least half the Warblers and Chickadees already there, plus assorted other students who must have come with them. David cheered when he noticed Blaine, and a few other Warblers joined in, Jeff patting him on the back when he walked past. He half expected them to burst into song, but it seemed they weren't drunk enough for that yet, so he gave them a wave and continued into the basement in search of Rachel to show his face. He didn't see Tina, so she and Mike must not have arrived yet.

Blaine finally found Rachel over by the makeshift bar. "Oh, Blaine!" she exclaimed, smiling at him brightly. "So wonderful for you to join us. What can I get you to drink?"

After having two of Rachel's signature drinks, which were questionable in content and pink in hue, Blaine was buzzed and discussing the merits of reinterpreting Top 40 music with Nick, Tina still hadn't shown up, and Rachel was looking at him intently. She wasn't kidding about playing a role.

"Do you know Rachel's staring at you?" Nick asked, staring back at her confusedly. "She looks … she looks like she's pulled a muscle or something."

"Ah. Um. Let me go see what she wants. Excuse me," Blaine said, draining his drink and figuring he could get a refill while he was over there. "Rachel, are you okay?" Blaine asked, tilting his head and trying not to give her a look like she was too crazy.

"Fine! Never better!" she said loudly before lowering her voice. "I'm just trying to make this believable, okay?"

"Maybe don't try so hard," Blaine pointed out, pouring himself another drink from the absurdly bright pitcher. "Nick thinks you're ill." Rachel looked shocked and oops, maybe he was tipsier than he thought. "Look, what's the plan here? You are the one with the plan, right?"

Rachel snapped back to attention, drowning her own drink and holding out for Blaine to refill. "In a bit, I was going to suggest spin the bottle. We'll keep playing until I get you or you get me, and then I'll say I need to go out for air and you follow me. We'll leave the basement door wide open for people to follow and go into my room and pretend to _have sex_." Rachel's voice was barely a whisper at that point, and Blaine still couldn't believe he was going along with this. Why was he going along with this again?

The first thing that came to mind that he was a good person and a good friend, but that all seemed quite convoluted.

Two more drinks later, and Blaine was in a much better state to pull the whole thing off. He'd somehow made it to the floor where he sat in a circle with a dozen others who were just playing the game for fun. There'd been some murmurs when Blaine sat down, but pointing out he'd kiss anyone who was willing, guy or girl, squashed them. Blaine didn't have to wait long, because right after David landed on Sugar and Jeff landed on Mercedes, Rachel landed smack dab on Blaine, to the point where he'd accuse her of weighting the bottle or something, but she was as drunk as he was.

Rachel didn't waste any time launching herself across the space between them and crashing her lips to Blaine's, and alright. At least Rachel was a good kisser. Blaine didn't have to do much faking and really, what was just one kiss (or two or, okay, five)? When they broke, Rachel was giving it her best, and even in Blaine's own haze, she really did look like she was into this. Blaine was aiming for confused as hell himself, which he figured worked since he was actually gay.

Rachel coughed lightly, bringing her hand to her lips, and saying softly, "I need some air. You guys continue without me." She raced up the stairs as per the plan, and everyone in the room turned their eyes to Blaine to see how he would react.

He stumbled to his feet, calling out Rachel's name and racing towards the stairs as best he could. He passed Tina on the way, who must have shown up with Mike, and she looked utterly bewildered. Blaine paused for a second, debating telling her something, anything so she'd know he hadn't gone crazy, but ended up shrugging his shoulders as if he didn't know what to say - because he _didn't_ and climbing up the stairs behind Rachel.

"Rachel! Rachel, wait!" Blaine called out as he ducked into the hallway. He waited a minute, adjusting to the low light before seeing Rachel hovering outside her bedroom door and motioning for him to follow. Blaine couldn't mistake the immediate sound of people fighting their way to the stairs to watch the insanity first hand and he saw a few exit through the basement door just as he slipped into Rachel's bedroom. Perfect.

Rachel was still wearing the same expression when he entered the room and he whispered, "Okay, Rachel, you can drop the act. Five people just saw me come in here."

Rachel didn't drop her act. "Rachel," Blaine said, drawing out her name in warning.

"Blaine, you're a very good kisser. In fact, you should come over here and kiss me again," she said loudly, yanking him to the bed. Blaine yelped as he fell flat on his stomach, Rachel's headboard banging against the wall loudly, and hey, that worked. "We could actually really make out, you know," Rachel whispered.

"No!" Blaine shouted, way too loudly, and Rachel punched his shoulder in reflex.

"You're not being very convincing!" she hissed at him. Blaine heard coughing on the outside of the door and could see feet shifting in the shadows in the sliver of light that showed underneath.

"I mean, no, not like that, here," Blaine said, still loud enough to be heard through the door as he shifted on the bed for added effect. "Oh yeah, right there," he added, wincing as he said it. Rachel hit his shoulder again and he couldn't hold back a squeal of pain when she did it.

"You are _awful_ at this!" Rachel whined - quietly, thankfully, so everyone else hadn't heard _that_ little tidbit. "Blaine! Oh, Blaine!" she called out dramatically, and Blaine half wondered if she really would be this over the top in bed. Blaine just rolled his eyes and shifted up towards the head of the bed to make more noise.

Rachel smacked him again as he passed over her and god, he was going to have _bruises_. "Stop hitting me!" he called out, and okay, he was kind of awful at this. Blaine hoped he wasn't this bad at actual sex. "I mean, Rachel, it doesn't have to be so rough - here, let me show you," he added as an afterthought, wiggling his eyebrows, because was that a good save or _what_.

Rachel huffed out a sigh and joined him at the head of the bed. "Alright, alright, how much longer do we have to do this for? I need another drink … or a bathroom." Drunk Rachel was whinier and needier than Sober Rachel, it seemed.

"You're not going to puke on me are you?" Blaine asked quickly, waiting until she shook her head before continuing. "Well, we can't quit now! I'm not going to be known around school as the guy who comes in five minutes," Blaine protested. "In fact, you should be making more noise so people think I know what I'm doing."

"Like what?" Rachel squealed, and shit, everyone out in the hall probably heard that. Blaine couldn't in good conscience actually hit Rachel, drunkenness aside, so he grabbed one of her throw pillows and smacked it against her stomach. "Oh!" she called out, and yeah, that worked. Blaine hit her again, biting his lip to keep from bursting into giggles, and before long, they were having a good old fashioned pillow fight to elicit vaguely sexual noises from each other.

Blaine knew he'd be forced to tell this to a therapist years from now, and wasn't even someone in the mental health profession would know what to say, he was sure of it.

"Okay, big finish, closing number and all that," Blaine finally whispered, and Rachel screwed her eyes shut and began almost _singing_, like she was doing scales and there was _no way in hell_ people would believe this. Blaine tried his best to sound realistic to make up for it - hey, at least he'd watched porn, okay? Hopefully most people were as drunk as them, if not drunker.

The different versions of the story Monday morning would probably be laughable.

They lay in silence for a few minutes before Blaine turned to Rachel and began to giggle. He buried his head in the pillow to try and get it under control - oh god, what if the laughing sounded like _crying_ - but then Rachel joined in, and they were both laughing into their pillows, breathing deeply and trying to calm down.

"Thank you, Blaine," Rachel finally said when she'd calmed down enough to talk.

"The favor you owe me is way bigger than the one you owe Puck for the alcohol, just an FYI." He gave Rachel a wink and turned to face her. "Okay, here, we should mess up your hair and clothes a little." He ruffled her hair and pulled her sweater untucked before doing the same to himself. He tried not to stare at Rachel's sweater too long, because if he did, it looked like the deer on it were moving.

By the time they opened Rachel's bedroom door, everyone had snuck back downstairs again. The party goers fell silent as they made it back down the stairs. Rachel finally broke the silence, screaming out "Best party _ever_!" to which most people cheered and went back to their previous conversations.

Tina grabbed his arm as he made it down the stairs. "What is going on?" she hissed at him, pulling him off to a corner.

"Not now, Tina. I need another drink so I can forget what just happened." He blinked. Shit, he hadn't meant to say that.

"Did what I think just happened actually happen? What the hell has gotten into you?" Blaine met Tina's eye and she actually looked concerned.

"Let's talk about this when I'm not drunk, okay?" he finally said. "I don't want to ruin your night with Mike." Her face softened at that point and she nodded, making her way back to Mike. He thought about actually going to get another drink, but it was if all of his previous drinks plus the night's events hit him all at once. He had to get out of there.

Blaine made his way back up the stairs, grabbing his coat and scarf from the couch where he'd set it when he came in. He opened Rachel's front door to find Kurt standing on the other side.

They both jumped at the surprise, Kurt moving out of the way to let Blaine out. "Hey," Blaine said, or attempted to say - his words might have slurred a little. "Let me try that again. Hi there." He smiled at Kurt and Kurt looked quite amused at the state Blaine was in.

"Hello yourself. It looks like you're having a good time," Kurt said with a quirk of his eyebrow.

Blaine blinked for a second, thinking. How long had Kurt been there? What if he'd been there long enough to know about the whole Rachel disaster? "I suppose," he settled for, laughing a bit because he was kind of too drunk to care much about the whole situation right now. "When did it get cold out here?"

"The temperature dropped pretty quickly, I think. It wasn't as cold when we got here. I only noticed it when I stepped out for some fresh air a little bit ago." Kurt smiled back at Blaine, a little tightly, and crap, he probably had been there long enough. "If I had known it was going to be this cold, I would have worn a scarf."

Blaine didn't hesitate before unwinding his grey and red scarf from around his neck - the one he'd just put back on. "Here, take mine," Blaine said, offering it to him. "I might be drunk, and that makes me naturally warm."

Kurt stared at him for a moment, as if he wasn't sure whether or not he should take it, but he finally reached out for the scarf. "Thanks," he replied, delicately winding it around his neck with more finesse than Blaine would have sober. "Are you going back into the party?"

Blaine shook his head. "No, I think I'm partied out at this point. Heading home. The party's still going strong, though." He turned to look at Kurt, who looked just stunning against the cold night air. He'd only seen Kurt in his Dalton uniform, after all, but Kurt seemed like the kind of person who would look amazing in a paper bag. He saw Kurt bite his lip and turn away, blushing, and oh shit, he'd caught Blaine staring.

"You're not driving are you?" Kurt finally asked, staring out into the night air.

Blaine made his way down the walkway a bit before turning and walking backwards - which was a feat in and of itself while drunk. "No. Too much alcohol for driving. Walking though. Perfect for walking. I only live a few blocks away. I'll get my car tomorrow."

Kurt screwed up his face a bit, as if he wasn't sure if he should let Blaine go. "Do you want me to drive you?" he called out once Blaine reached the end of the walkway.

Blaine slowed for a moment, thinking. Kurt's car would be warm - at least, he thought so, he would have heat, right? But, no. He'd already decided he couldn't drag Kurt into the mess he'd created. "No, thanks though. Keep the scarf!" Blaine responded, waving as he finally reached the sidewalk. He waited until Kurt waved back before finally turning the corner and heading home. 

The following night, right when Blaine was in the middle of his Pre-Calc homework, there was a knock on his door. "Come in!" he called out, not looking up from his notes.

"This came for you," he heard his dad say. He turned to see his dad holding a brown box in his hand. Why was he getting a package? Why had it come today – there was no mail on Sundays! Plus, he never got packages - figuratively or literally.

"Uh, thanks, you can just leave it on my desk." Blaine knew from the curious look on his dad's face he wanted to know what it was, but Blaine hadn't a clue, so he just shrugged and turned back to his homework.

"Rachel dropped it off," his dad finally said, his eyes searching Blaine's. "Rachel knows you're gay, right? She had this look in her eyes … I think she thinks you're _dating_, Blaine. Does Rachel know her boyfriend is a homosexual? You think she'd have better gaydar with the two dads and all …"

"You done yet?" Blaine asked. Normally, he found his parents' teasing pretty cute, but he really wanted to know what _Rachel_ of all people had gotten him. "I'm not dating Rachel, and yes, she knows I'm gay."

"I'm just saying," his dad said, shrugging his shoulders and holding up his hands. "You're allowed to date whoever you want, even if you are gay."

"Thanks, Dad," Blaine said with a sigh, gesturing for him to leave.

The second the door was closed, he bolted to pick up the box. It was unmarked aside from his name, so he didn't hesitate finding a pair of scissors in his drawer and cutting open the tape.

A note was on top. _Blaine - thank you for the help this weekend. I'm sure I'll have no problem with Finn now. I really hope you enjoy this token of my appreciation, I had to endure a very awkward conversation with my dads to figure out the best one to get you. All the best! xoxo, Rachel_

Blaine didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the absurdity of it all. He let out a laugh and sunk back into the pillows of his bed, shaking his head a little, the box vibrating as he threw it down.


	2. Chapter 2

_Part four – A gentlemen's agreement and a lady's blackmail_

The problem with letting people think Blaine had slept with Rachel was now almost every girl over at Crawford glanced at him with the same moony-eyed expression they'd given him after the Warblers performed Animal last year. It was his first solo and he'd had to inform them all he was most definitely gay after one had been brave enough to offer her number up.

Apparently Blaine's weekend activities had made that conversation null and void.

Blaine knew he owed Tina an explanation, but he couldn't bring himself to actually do it. He'd responded to her texts with short, one or two word answers, and took to hiding out in the library once again. The upside was he was able to have his nights almost completely free from homework, and he'd taken on some additional administrative duties with the Warblers since the council was getting more and more bogged down with their own school tasks.

Wes met him in the library on Wednesday to collect the minutes Blaine had typed up the night before, and the look of concern on Wes's face had Blaine a little concerned, to be honest. "Everything okay?" Blaine asked as Wes took a seat at the work table. "I thought David was going to meet me to pick these up."

"He was," Wes said, smiling slightly at Blaine's observation. "I told him I would do it. I just wanted – well, I wanted to make sure you were okay."

Blaine tried not to visibly panic. He hadn't even thought about how his lies would affect his standing with the Warblers. "Fine, Wes, fine. My personal life might be a little messy right now, but I'm still giving the Warblers my full attention, which is why I asked David if there was anything else I could do to help."

"I know," Wes said quickly, shaking his head. "I know you well enough, or at least, I think I do, to know you'll never be anything but professional as our leading man."

Wes took a deep breath and Blaine waited for the other shoe to drop.

"I just – I want you to know that even though it's been a while since I've officially been in that capacity, I'll always be your Dalton big brother. If you ever need anyone to talk to." Wes offered Blaine another small smile, and Blaine kind of wanted to die.

"Thanks, Wes," he said finally. "I do appreciate it. I think I've got it all under control."

"Just thought I'd check, since you've been hiding out in here from Tina for the past week. Some of us eat in the Warbler study every day, you know, if she isn't being supportive of … things. You're always welcome to join us."

Wes's expression was so open and kind, and for what felt like the hundredth time in the past week, Blaine felt like a complete jerk.

"It's not like that," Blaine said quickly, because the last thing he wanted was to ruin Tina's reputation too. "It's just … complicated. Thank you for the offer. Was that it?"

Wes nodded again, and thankfully, dropped the subject. "Actually, no. Do you know Kurt Hummel? He approached me yesterday about joining us. He mentioned you were the one who suggested he join."

Blaine started to grin – he just couldn't help it. He was glad Kurt was actually taking him up on his suggestion. "Yeah, Tina went to middle school with him. I haven't heard him personally, but Tina says he has an amazing voice. And, well, he apparently had trouble at his old school and I know a thing or two about that. I thought it would be good for him – I know how accepting the Warblers are." _As you've shown me just now_, Blaine thought, but refrained from adding that comment.

"He does have an amazing voice," Wes confirmed, almost giddy with excitement. Blaine knew Wes loved finding amazing talent for their group. "He's coming to practice on Friday. I was wondering if you could maybe take him out for coffee afterwards as a welcome? As you said, we want Kurt to feel at home with us."

Blaine's mind jumped at the thought of coffee with Kurt before he reminded himself that this was just Warbler business, and he _really_ couldn't risk any unprofessionalism in regards to the group after his little conversation with Wes. Still, he wouldn't turn down a moment to get to know Kurt a little better. "Of course. That sounds like a great idea."

Wes nodded his head one last time. "Good. I'll leave you to it, then. See you this afternoon for practice."

Blaine said goodbye as Wes walked off, passing Nick who was walking towards Blaine's table. The two exchanged pleasantries, and Nick collapsed into the chair at the end of the table, breathing heavily. "You're not an easy man to find, Blaine."

Blaine raised an eyebrow as he watched Nick catch his breath. "Is there a reason why you were looking for me?"

Nick looked nervous for a moment before answering Blaine's question. "I didn't really want to have this conversation in the library … but lunch is almost over, so …"

Blaine's stomach started to turn and he closed up the plastic bag holding his PB&J sandwich. His appetite was suddenly gone. Not _again_. Hopefully, Nick was just going to ask for advice on how to get with girls, or something, and not … no, because to his knowledge, Nick wasn't actually gay.

Except he _was_.

"So, what are you doing this weekend? If you were free, I was thinking maybe we could go out, or, you know, not, my parents are out of town taking my sister to visit colleges and I have the place to myself." Nick was staring at his hands, folded on the table, and bumbling over his words, and Blaine almost felt bad for him. You know, aside from the fact that he was randomly propositioning Blaine for sex.

"Nick, I didn't even know you were gay," Blaine managed, and Nick just shrugged his shoulders. "You're … I don't know how to put this, but you're kind of not my type."

"Oh!" Nick exclaimed, sounding surprised. "So, like, are you really into girls now, because I thought you were just drunk and horny when you did it with Rachel … I mean, straight or gay, I think you'd have to be …"

This was his chance to break the freaking cycle. Who would have known so many people would actually want to sleep with him? "No, I'm definitely still gay," Blaine said vehemently, hopefully that tidbit would get passed around too. "It's just – I kind of do have more of a type aside from 'live gay male.'" He couldn't believe he was having this conversation. His friendship with Nick was screwed now.

"No, I get it!" Nick burst out saying, waving his hands wildly. "You're totally not my type either, which is why I haven't made a move until now. I just thought … I never thought it was an option before, you know, to just hook up with you."

"So you just want me for my body?" Blaine asked wearily. He pulled out his pocket watch to check the time, and thank goodness, he was going to get saved by the bell in a few more minutes.

"No! Well, kind of. It sounded better in my head." Nick groaned and rested his head on his arms crossed on the table.

"Nick, whatever. I'll just … forget it happened, no big deal. Anyways, I didn't actually hook up with that WCC guy _or_ Rachel, so don't take too much offense that I'm not going to randomly hook up with you." Blaine sighed and started to gather his things to shove back in his messenger bag, so he could run from this situation as soon as he had an excuse.

"Wait … you didn't actually have sex with either of them? That's … kind of brilliant." Nick was looking at Blaine with newly found awe.

"Brilliantly stupid," Blaine muttered as he shoved a notebook in his bag.

"No, really, really brilliant. Both you and Rachel are super popular ever since … well, you did nothing, but everyone at that party thought you did! Why did you pick her, though? Of all the people to fake hook up with …" Nick was shaking his head and was he _laughing_?

"She owes me a really huge favor I've yet to cash in on," Blaine said, and that was the wrong thing to say.

"Wait – so could _we_ just say we had sex? I could owe you too! I'd pick someone else, but no one else is out, you know …"

Nick must not have seen Kurt in any of his classes, and Blaine wasn't bringing that to his attention. "I don't know, Nick, it was supposed to be a one-time thing."

"What's one more?" Nick asked, leaning across the table into Blaine's personal space. "I'll pay you!" he blurted out, and _oh god_.

"I'm not for sale, Nick!" Blaine exclaimed, and okay, maybe he said that a bit loud. He heard a cough coming from the front, but luckily the library was deserted aside from the librarian, who was looking over at them sternly. Blaine waved feebly at her.

"No, it's not like we're having _actual_ sex," Nick muttered, and Blaine wondered if he realized how crass he was being. Nick pulled out his wallet. "Look, I still have some gift cards left over from my birthday. It won't be cash; it'll be exchanging goods for services just like we learned in economics … alleged services, anyways. And, hey, it'll be like, confirming your gay-ness after your romp with Rachel."

Nick wiggled his eyebrows and rubbed his hands together and Blaine still felt like crawling into a hole. "Okay, look, fifty dollars to The Lima Bean. That'll keep you in coffee for over a month."

"We're still having this conversation, aren't we?" Blaine said, a little brusquely but he was kind of over the whole thing, as tempting as a month's worth of free coffee was.

"Oooh, I know!" Nick said brightly, still rummaging through his wallet. "I'll throw in a hundred to Brooks Brothers. I saw you were eyeing that green and blue tie the last time we were at the mall. I know you got that sale email this morning about bow ties being thirty percent off …"

Damnit, Nick knew his weakness. And he did have a point about making sure everyone knew the whole Rachel thing was a drunken mistake …

He snatched the two gift cards from Nick's hand. "Fine. But we've got to mix this up – say you gave me a handjob and I blew you. We should think of a place …"

Blaine looked over at Nick who was either shocked he was agreeing to this or that he was being so direct about it. "Uh. Warbler study?"

"_No_," Blaine said, because that was _not_ happening. "Find a movie for tonight and text me the time and title. Better yet, you should actually go to the movies and make sure there's no one there we know to throw off the story."

"Uh, okay, yeah, sounds good. I'll, um, text you tonight," Nick stammered, gathering up his things. "Thanks, Blaine."

"Yeah, yeah," Blaine mumbled, waving as Nick headed out of the library. This was _it_. After this, he'd put a stop to the nonsense. No question. 

Blaine woke on Friday to a text from Tina. _you ready to talk yet?_ He groaned and typed out a response: _bring me coffee and a muffin and pick me up for school and we'll talk_.

He climbed into Tina's car thirty minutes later, brushing off his parents' questions as to why he was going in early. "Okay, spill it," she said, thrusting a coffee cup and paper bag at him. "You and _Nick_, really?"

"Don't hate me," Blaine said, breaking off a piece of blueberry muffin and stuffing it in his mouth.

"I could never _hate you_," Tina declared as she backed out of Blaine's driveway. "I just miss you, okay? Stuff's moving forward with Mike and I don't have my best friend to talk to, and obviously stuff is going on with you and you feel you can't tell me. So, let's get over it all, okay?"

"You might hate me when I tell you the truth," Blaine whined before taking a long, long sip of coffee. Tina had made it perfectly, just the right amount of sugar. He took a deep breath before speaking again. "So, I never went out with Jeremiah."

"_What?_" Tina exclaimed, swerving a bit on the road. "Okay, wait. Hold that thought until I can pull over." She continued another mile down the street before pulling into the parking lot of a drugstore, putting the car in park, and turning to him. "Once again: _what_?"

"I never went out with Jeremiah," Blaine repeated. "I just really, really didn't want to go to the Asian Festival with you again, and I was going to tell you the truth once you calmed down a bit, but then Quinn overheard and everything kind of … snowballed. It was stupid and wrong and I'm really, really sorry."

"_Blaine_," Tina said with a sigh. "Okay, I know my family is crazy. I selfishly only want you to come to things like that for my sanity, but you won't offend me or hurt my feelings if you don't want to." She paused for a moment, eating some of her chocolate chip muffin before holding out her hand for the blueberry. Blaine switched muffins wordlessly with her and she spoke again. "So, does this mean you actually hooked up with Rachel and Nick or not?"

"No," Blaine said quietly, sipping more of his coffee. "Both of them wanted to actually do stuff for their reputations or whatever, and when I explained that I hadn't actually _done anything_, they liked that idea better anyways. Or, Rachel did, I think Nick really wanted to sleep with me."

"Blaine, you really need to learn how to say no to people," Tina mused, reaching for her own latte.

"I know," Blaine sighed. "It's a character flaw. A pretty big one, I guess. I thought maybe if I had to live with the consequences I'd learn something, but I don't know what I've learned yet."

"I've learned you're crazy," Tina said with a quirked eyebrow. "You're done now, though, right?"

"_Yes_," Blaine answered strongly. "I mean, Nick's the only other gay guy in the school I'm aware of, other than Kurt, and I am done with the whole girl thing."

Tina pursed her lips for a moment, as if she was debating telling him something or not. "Speaking of Kurt, I've been having lunch with him since you've been avoiding me. He came with me and Mike to Rachel's party. I think he's convinced I'm insane because I keep telling him what a wonderful guy you are, and then the rumor mill starts up."

Blaine groaned loudly, crumpling his empty paper bag. "Don't tell me that. God, Kurt must think I'm some sort of freak. I have to have coffee with him this afternoon, as a goodwill gesture from the Warblers."

"Well, that might be good, just don't pretend to hook up with anyone on your coffee date."

"It's not a date. Official Warbler business," Blaine said with a wave of his hand. He'd learned enough about putting labels on things in the last two weeks and there was no way he was blowing this out of proportion.

"Yeah, well, you didn't hear it from me, but I'm pretty sure Kurt's interested in you, drama aside. Which says _a lot_, because Blaine, I love you, but if I just met you last week …" Tina shrugged as she ate the last bite of her muffin.

"We should probably get going," Blaine said after they sat in silence for what seemed like forever – he wasn't awake enough to attempt to process what Tina had said. "We're going to miss homeroom. Enough about my drama – tell me about Mike." 

Warbler practice went surprisingly well that afternoon, and everyone was too distracted with Kurt's presence to even _remember_ what Nick and Blaine had supposedly done Wednesday night. Though, in true Warbler fashion, everyone would have acted like nothing was wrong regardless.

With Sectionals just two weeks away, they'd finalized their set list, adding an extra practice next week to make sure Kurt didn't have any trouble integrating himself into the group. When Wes introduced Kurt to the group, their eyes met briefly, Kurt giving him a tiny smile, and Blaine had to internally tell the fluttering in his stomach to _shut up_.

Wes finally dismissed them all an hour later with a tap of his gavel, Blaine stood up from his place on the couch and made his way to the back of the study. "I'm glad you finally decided to join us," he said as he approached Kurt, grinning.

"Well, Tina didn't seem like she was going to stop pestering me until I did," Kurt said with a chuckle, picking up Pavarotti's cage from where it sat on the floor. "Had I known I'd be coerced into caring for a mascot, I might have thought otherwise." The corners of Kurt's eyes crinkled just a bit to show Blaine he was teasing, and Blaine was so, _so_ smitten. Why hadn't Kurt come into his life just a week earlier? It would have saved him a lot of drama.

"Don't worry, Pav's a good bird. I think he's stayed with me the longest out of anyone here," Blaine said, bending down to look into the birdcage. "So, how has your first full week at Dalton been? Settling in okay?"

Kurt nodded slightly, putting the cage down on the chair he'd been sitting in. "My course load is a bit more rigorous than McKinley, that's for sure, but everyone's been kind and welcoming. So, that's a plus." He smiled again, even though it didn't quite meet his eyes.

"Dalton's pretty good about that," Blaine said softly. "So," he continued, trying to keep his tone upbeat. "What Wes didn't tell you is that it's also tradition for the head of the Warblers to take any new members out for coffee as a gesture of goodwill, so I was wondering if you had some time to spare?"

Blaine gave him the biggest smile imaginable and Kurt just stared at him for a moment as if he wasn't sure he heard Blaine correctly. "So, you take out all the new members for coffee, then?" Kurt asked, and the look that followed on Kurt's face told Blaine he hadn't meant to say that. "I mean, of course you do, and you said it was Warbler tradition. Um, well, I should probably take Pavarotti home – I sincerely doubt The Lima Bean allows birds, and we have family dinner at my house every Friday, but I could meet you after – what am I saying, it's Friday night, you probably have plans," Kurt rambled, waving his hands a bit and picking up the birdcage once more to steady them.

Seriously, could he _get_ any more adorable?

"No, it's fine, the only thing on my agenda was dinner with my parents too. What time are you done? We could meet at the one by the mall, if that works."

They decided on seven, and Blaine most definitely didn't skip towards Tina in the parking lot when he met her at her car. Anyone else who saw that was clearly mistaken. 

Blaine got to The Lima Bean a few minutes early, buzzing with excitement, which was _stupid_, it was just coffee with a new friend, a fellow Warbler even. He saw Kurt walk up, holding his red and grey scarf, and he had all but forgotten he'd given it to Kurt at Rachel's party. "I think this belongs to you," he said with a smile, holding out towards Blaine.

"Thanks," Blaine replied, reaching for the scarf. His fingers brushed Kurt's, and they were warm, probably from the heater in his car. Blaine let his hand linger a moment longer than he probably should have, before finally putting the scarf in his coat pocket and heading inside.

Blaine got himself a medium drip and a chocolate cookie, and picked up Kurt's nonfat mocha too (hey, he was putting his gift card to good use at least). Kurt looked surprised, but didn't object. They found an empty table in the back and Blaine asked, "So, do you have any questions about the Warblers?"

Kurt did, in fact, and they went back and forth for a while, Kurt asking questions about the Warblers and Dalton and Blaine filling him in and in return, Kurt telling him a few antidotes about McKinley's glee club.

They had talked for over an hour, but Blaine didn't want to leave yet. "Do you mind if I get a refill?" Blaine asked, tipping his empty cup towards Kurt.

Kurt laughed and shook his head. "No, I'm fine. How will you sleep tonight?" Blaine just shrugged and got back in line, all the while staring unabashedly at Kurt as he glanced out the window and running smack dab into Nick and Jeff who were waiting for their drinks.

"Oh, hey guys," Blaine said cheerfully, and Jeff glanced between Nick and Blaine, his eyes shifty. Oh, right, because they'd hooked up. Supposedly. Blaine continued on, acting as if nothing had happened, because he figured that was the right thing to do. "What are you two doing here?"

It was Nick's turn to exchange a glance with Jeff and he finally said, "Just a pit stop on our way to the movies."

"Oh, nice! What movie are you guys going to see?" It occurred to Blaine the second the words came out of his mouth that _they weren't going to actually watch the movie_.

"We're not sure yet, we thought we'd check and see what's playing," Jeff said nonchalantly, just as the barista called out their names. "Well, that's us, see you on Monday, Blaine!"

Jeff walked over to the counter to collect their beverages and Nick turned to Blaine quickly. "Thanks _so much_, man, I really owe you!" he said brightly before turning to catch up with Jeff. Blaine shook his head as if it would help him clear his thoughts, walking up to the counter to get his refill.

"That must have been awkward," Kurt said, wincing as Blaine sat down.

"What?" Blaine asked, and _oh god, were they really going to talk about this_? "Oh. Well, not really, I mean, awkward in the sense that I didn't even know either of them were gay until this week, but really, it's okay. I know how it feels when you first come out. They both have a lot of stuff to work through."

"But you liked him? Nick?" Kurt asks, swirling the remainder of his mocha in his cup and looking concerned, and Blaine really, really wished he would drop it.

"No, not really. Nick's not really my type." _But you are._

"I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable," Kurt said finally, catching on that maybe Blaine didn't want to talk about this. "I don't even know why I'm asking. I have no frame of reference for any of this. Before last month, I hadn't even ever been kissed." Something about Kurt's voice made Blaine realize that the story of Kurt's first kiss wasn't a happy one, the way his pitch rose high on the tail end, and he stayed silent until Kurt finally sighed and told him all about Karofsky and kisses and death threats and how he'd ended up at Dalton mid-semester.

"I don't think that counts," Blaine said, after Kurt was done and staring downward at his hands clasped around his coffee cup. "You weren't a willing participant. It totally doesn't count. Firsts should always be special." He tried not to choke on his coffee at the ramifications of his statement, and Kurt just stared at him, as if he knew the statement was loaded, even though he was probably thinking it was loaded for all the wrong reasons.

"Blaine," Kurt said finally, his tone emotionless, and Blaine was so close to telling him everything. It sounded crazy though. Tina, his very best friend, thought he was crazy. He really didn't want Kurt to know he was crazy. Yet.

"So, strangely enough, my first kiss is what brought me to Dalton too, indirectly," he said, clearing his throat a little. A change of subject was necessary. Kurt looked at him curiously, so Blaine in turn shared his story of the Sadie Hawkins dance and stealing kisses in a darkened hallway and walking to the parking lot high on love and life and meeting the group of idiots once they arrived.

Blaine tried to not make any connections between the past and his current behavior, though he was sure the hypothetical therapist he'd be forced to see at the end of it all could.

"That's why I knew something had to happen for you to transfer mid-semester. I transferred mid-semester," Blaine said, trying to offer Kurt a small smile because he knew he always looked pathetic when he told that story.

"I've never told anyone the whole story," Kurt blurted out, setting his coffee cup on the counter. The paper sleeve was torn to shreds and Blaine wasn't quite sure when that had happened. "Not even my dad. I don't even know why I told _you_. I guess … I don't know, I guess I could sense you could relate."

"Yeah," Blaine said, draining the rest of his coffee. "Well, I don't know about you, but I think we've had enough serious discussions for one day. You want to get out of here?"

Blaine wasn't quite sure what they could do – obviously movies were out of the question with his previous track record – but it was suddenly stifling in The Lima Bean and he needed some fresh air.

"Yeah," Kurt said quietly, and they threw away their trash before pushing their way through the door into the cold night. 

Even though it had been freezing out, Blaine and Kurt ended up going to the playground across the street from Dalton, the one at Brighton, the elementary school that most of their classmates had gone to. They'd swung on the swings and shared much more lighthearted stories until they were red in the face and their fingers were numb and Kurt had finally said he should go.

Blaine hadn't really seen Kurt in the week that followed aside from Warblers practice – which, with Sectionals coming up was all anyone had time for. Wes decided to add an extra practice over the weekend, and the rest of Blaine's free time was spent with Rachel getting preparations ready for their Annual Showcase. The Chickadees had won their Sectionals last week and were already getting their numbers together.

Luckily, things with Rachel hadn't been weird – their pretend hookup was proving useful to her as well, because she'd actually had three discussions with Finn since. She just knew he was on the verge of asking her out.

Sectionals was held on the following Thursday, and Blaine's week started out normal enough. Monday morning hadn't had any bumps until Ms. Holiday's class fourth period. They were still reading 'The Scarlet Letter' and the class was opened up by Ms. H rapping about adultery and vengeance and crimes of passion.

English was by far one of Blaine's favorite classes – he'd had Ms. H two years in a row and she always made things interesting. Today they were starting off the discussion by comparing today's times with the times Hester Prynne lived in.

"So, class," Ms. Holiday explained, leaning against her desk. "What I mean to say is back in Hester's time, the most horrific crime a woman could commit was adultery."

Blaine saw a hand shoot up next to him – Thomas Merkin. Thomas was Quinn's right-hand man for Celibacy Club, aside from Thad, and he obviously shared her views. At least Thad took his Warbler brotherhood seriously and was pleasant to Blaine, for the most part. Blaine tried to avoid Thomas at all costs; he was pretty sure he offended Thomas just by existing, since he was gay. (Luckily, with Dalton's _no harassment policy_, Thomas wasn't stupid enough to try anything. Until today.)

"Yes, Thomas?" Ms. Holiday asked, her tone almost indicating that she didn't want to hear what he had to say.

"So, excuse me for saying this, Ms. H, but times haven't changed that much. Hester would still be a skank in today's standards."

Blaine could feel everyone's eyes upon him at Thomas's words. Shit.

Ms. Holiday's mouth dropped open a bit, but she recovered quickly. "So, there was nothing in the book that made you feel sorry for her, not one bit?"

"No, she brought it on herself, in my opinion." Thomas's desk was right next to Blaine's, and he turned to face him. "Blaine, maybe you should embroider a red A on your blazers so everyone knows what you truly are?"

Blaine's eyebrows shot up at his words. What came out of his mouth next wasn't pretty – Blaine was usually so put together, never stooping to the level of name calling, even when he'd been called one himself. "At least I can change my behavior if I want, I'm pretty sure being a pompous ass is a personality defect you're stuck with for life."

The whole class gasped, a few adding applause and cheers, and Blaine inwardly winced. Not his proudest moment. Ms. Holiday looked shocked. "Boys, see me after class," she said before continuing on with the lesson. 

Blaine had stopped by the uniform store after school that Monday to pick up a few supplies. That night, he pulled out every Dalton blazer he owned (aside from one that he was saving for Sectionals – Wes would _kill him_) and franticly sewed a giant, red embroidered A patch over the D one again and again and again.

No one could accuse Blaine of doing anything half assed.

Blaine's mom knocked on the door and peaked her head in. "You know it sounds like you're having sex in here," she commented, and Blaine groaned again as he stuck himself with the needle and thread. "And I know that's not possible because you're dating a girl who doesn't know you're gay."

"Cute, Mom," Blaine called out as she waved and left him to his sewing. He squealed as he pricked himself again. Wasn't this sewing thing supposed to come naturally since he was actually gay? Someone should revoke his membership card. 

Blaine walked down the halls of Dalton with his newly christened blazer on Tuesday, head held high. There was some pointing and whispering and outright staring, as expected. All of the students clearly heard about Blaine's outburst in class the previous day, so there was no question as to what the A stood for.

No one had actually asked him about it, until English Lit. After dismissing the class for lunch, Ms. Holiday said, "Blaine, a word." Blaine sighed and slowly made his way to the chair in front of Ms. H's desk as the other students filed out into the hall. "You want to tell me what's going on with all this?" she finally asked when they were alone, waggling a finger at his blazer.

"I'm just taking our reading assignment very seriously, Ms. Holiday," Blaine replied, laying on as much charm as he could. "I was hoping to get an A – get it?" he added, grinning.

"Ha ha ha, funny," Ms. Holiday deadpanned. "Your little outburst aside, I've been hearing some rumors. People are talking. Be serious for a minute, Blaine."

"Geeze," he replied, trying not to wince at his teacher. "Since when were teachers subject to the disaster zone of Dalton's rumor mill?"

"Ever since I added you all on Facebook and see daily updates on your mundane lives," Ms. Holiday explained. "Does David really have to update his status with his order every time he goes to The Lima Bean?"

"I know, right?" Blaine exclaimed. "I think he's working through their entire menu."

"You think he'd pick a favorite already." Ms. Holiday folded her arms on her desk and leaned towards Blaine. "Listen, whatever this little act is about – I'm just curious."

"It's somewhat of an experiment," Blaine finally said. "I really think you should consider giving me extra credit, you know, for going the extra mile. I just really want an accurate grasp on what Hester went through."

Ms. Holiday raised her eyebrows. "Well, from what you've turned in already, I know you're one of the few that read the book. At least most of your classmates opted for viewing the original movie and not the Demi Moore remake. One student, who will remain nameless, spent a good two paragraphs talking about Demi's breakup with Ashton."

"How do you know I read the book and didn't watch the original movie? They're pretty close – er, or so I've heard," Blaine stammered.

"Because I know you, Blaine. You read the book." Ms. Holiday's tone was just pitying enough to make Blaine feel that little twinge of disappointment that reared its head when Wes spoke to him. "You still have that appointment with Mr. Schuster after lunch, yes?"

Ms. Holiday was by some inexplicable reason engaged to Mr. Schuster – though, they'd been engaged for years now – and as punishment, she'd scheduled an appointment with him instead of sending Blaine to the dean. When Blaine nodded, she continued. "Good. I didn't want to have to send you to the dean, Blaine. Truthfully – and I'll deny it if you tell anyone – I wanted to cheer along with the students. I don't know what Thomas's problem is."

Blaine chuckled and glanced downward. "Your secret is safe with me."

After she dismissed him, he ran to meet Tina for lunch and she had simply raised her eyebrows at him. "Oh my god, I thought it was all a joke," she said as she pulled him over to one of the courtyard picnic tables. Since the temperature had dropped, most students took to eating in classrooms or the lunchrooms at Dalton or Crawford, but Blaine and Tina stuck to eating outside as long as it wasn't too disgusting. "You know I of all people support one's right to self-expression, but I thought you were done with all of this."

"I was," Blaine said as he pulled out his lunch, "until Thomas had to be an ass yesterday. I may not have actually _done_ any of the stuff people think I have, but I still think it's wrong to judge people for it."

"You're insane," Tina said, popping open her can of Diet Coke. "I love you, but you're insane."

"Ms. H thinks so too," Blaine said, frowning slightly. "I have to meet with Mr. Schuster after lunch – he was out yesterday. It's the only punishment I'll have for my insanity, but she made it pretty clear next time she'll have to send me to the dean."

"Oh good, the crazy man can tell you how crazy you are," Tina added with a roll of her eyes. Mr. Schuster didn't have the greatest track record – he'd taught Spanish over at Crawford Tina's freshman and sophomore years, and when the board of trustees at the school realized he barely knew any Spanish, he was practically fired on the spot.

He'd only landed the guidance counselor job at Dalton because Ms. Holiday pulled some strings when Ms. Pillsbury left them unexpectedly. He was taking classes at the local OSU campus but he was still kind of a dolt. Blaine had always had a soft spot for Ms. Pillsbury – he'd been required to meet with her quite often to ensure his transition to Dalton was going smoothly. He really wished Ms. Pillsbury hadn't run off to Las Vegas with that dentist. She would probably be much more helpful in his situation.

Though, really, how could he be helped?

Blaine appeared outside Mr. Schuster's office door at one-ten. Quinn was Mr. Schuster's student aid for the quarter, and she gave Blaine a deathly stare as she very, very forcefully stapled stacks and stacks of papers. Good to know his mere existing still annoyed her too.

"Blaine! Come in!" Mr. Schuster looked harried, as always, as he rushed through the hallway to his office and Blaine walked in and took a seat.

"Blaine, it's my understanding you had a little outburst yesterday in Ms. Holiday's class," he started, and Blaine figured the easiest plan of attack was to say as little as possible and nod his head a lot. "It's obvious you're trying to make a statement with all of this," he added, gesturing to Blaine's blazer, "which is fine, but I'm just wondering what kind of statement you're trying to make here."

"I'm not in trouble, right?" Blaine asked, avoiding the question. "Because according to the handbook, additions to the school blazer are permitted."

"No! Of course not, Blaine," Mr. Schuster stammered a bit, and Blaine had another short moment of longing for Ms. Pillsbury. "I just wanted to let you know that if there's anything you want to talk about, I'm here. I know you met with Ms. Pillsbury pretty often when you transferred, and my door is always open to you, Blaine."

Blaine had already told Tina – maybe telling an adult wouldn't be awful, even if that adult was _Mr. Schuster_. "Whatever I tell you stays between us, right? I do have … somewhat of a reputation to uphold."

"Blaine, I'm the guidance counselor. It's _my job_." Mr. Schuster sighed. "Okay, listen, don't tell anyone I did this, but." He rummaged in his desk drawer and pulled out a handful of condoms. Blaine was pretty sure he was wearing a horrified expression on his face at the moment.

"Mr. Schuster, really, trust me, I don't need those," he said, trying to avoid Mr. Schuster's hand as he pushed the condoms towards him.

"I think you really do, Blaine. Listen, do whatever you have to do to figure yourself out, I just don't want this little phase to ruin your life. STDs are real, Blaine, and can have long lasting effects." They stared at each other for a long while, and finally Blaine was the one to cave, taking the condoms and shoving them far to the bottom of his messenger bag. So much for telling Mr. Schuster. "You can go now, Blaine. Send the next person in on your way out."

Blaine wordlessly threw his bag over his shoulder and walked out into the hallway. Thad was sitting on the couch outside, Quinn sitting next to him and rubbing his back, and Blaine said to them, "He's all yours."

Quinn just stared icily at Blaine as she had before, but Thad looked a bit taken aback at Blaine's annoyed tone. "Everything okay, Blaine?" he asked, gingerly.

"Fine, Thad, see you at practice this afternoon," Blaine replied, brushing by him and out the door.


	3. Chapter 3

Tuesday's additional Warbler practice was hectic since it was one of their last run-throughs before Sectionals on Thursday. Wes took one look at Blaine's blazer when he walked in and looked ill at the sight. Blaine quickly informed him he did still have a blazer without the embroidered A for their competition and he calmed after that.

There was no time for chit-chat, running through 'Teenage Dream,' 'Hey Soul Sister,' and 'Raise Your Glass' time after time. When they went to switch places for 'Raise Your Glass' after five renditions of 'Hey Soul Sister,' Blaine caught Kurt staring at him. The realization he'd been caught showed in his face and he offered Blaine a smile, which Blaine returned, grinning widely before turning around for their next formation.

Kurt had left practice before Blaine had a chance to talk to him, but the next morning, they passed each other in the halls after homeroom. "Nice embroidery," Kurt drawled, clutching his books to his chest and Blaine could see 'The Scarlet Letter' peeking out on top. "I meant to tell you yesterday."

"Nice pin," Blaine countered. "Is that a hippo?" The pin was sitting on his lapel, a crest of some sort with an animal head on it.

"Good eyesight," Kurt replied, winking as he passed Blaine's side, and were they flirting? Was that something they did now? "See you at practice, Blaine." 

The Warblers passed through to Regionals with flying colors and their attention quickly turned to the Annual Showcase that was coming up shortly. They got started on song lists and held auditions, and Blaine was pleased to find himself singing a duet with Tina (she was dying to do 'Someone That I Used To Know' with him), a duet with Rachel (he hoped he could convince her to sing something a little older, maybe some Elton John?), and a solo for the Warbler's closing number ('Midnight Train to Georgia'). He continued to exchange flirty remarks with Kurt in the hallways, but it never went much further than that. Sometimes they'd chat a bit on the way to their cars after practice, and Blaine really enjoyed the time they spent together.

A week and a half after Sectionals, he was walking across the courtyard to Crawford for lunch with Tina, when two cheerleaders cornered him, Santana and her sidekick Brittany. Blaine had never actually spoken to them before, but their reputation was a bit more extensive than Blaine's, and most likely true. "So, Anderson," Santana said coolly, her expression stony. "A little birdie told me that you _didn't_ actually sleep with Rachel Berry, which makes this a whole lot easier for me – I thought we were going to have to actually have sex with you to add you to our extensive list."

"Wait, we're not actually going to sleep with him?" Brittany asked. "I wanted to pet his hair." She reached out for Blaine's head and he stepped back to avoid it.

He cleared his throat. "I don't know what you're talking about, Santana."

She laughed bitterly. "Right. Well, anyway, this is win-win, because you don't want to sleep with us and we don't want to sleep with you – okay, _I_don't want to, Brittany is somehow intrigued by your hobbity, curly locks – but anyways, the point is, we're going to spread this rumor anyway. Do you want input or not? I can also offer you a thirty dollar gift certificate to the Gap for your troubles – I hear you're into that and maybe you could buy yourself some socks, or something."

Blaine swallowed thickly – he might not know Santana, but he knew all about her ways. If she said she would spread a rumor, she would. "I'm actually gay, Santana," he said with a sigh, and she raised her eyebrows as to say, 'So?' He groaned. "Okay, make sure you point out that I was highly intoxicated and minimize the actual exposure I have to your lady bits."

"Done. Pleasure doing business with you, Anderson," she said, tucking the gift card in his blazer pocket and smiling brightly as she twirled pinkies with Brittany while they walked off. 

Once the rumor of Blaine, Brittany, and Santana swirled through the schools, things changed. Kurt stopped flirting with him, for one, and stopped waiting for him after Warbler practice. Tina kept asking if he was okay, and he kept lying and saying he was. He didn't want to admit it out loud, because it wasn't as if Kurt owed him anything, right?

One afternoon, when he and Rachel were taking a short break from practicing their Showcase duet, she point blank asked him. "You like him, right? Finn's brother, Kurt?" She and Finn had actually been dating a few weeks and Blaine knew she spent plenty of time at their house.

"I – yeah," he admitted. "We used to talk all the time, and then …" _And then I decided to let a couple of cheerleaders ruin all that for me._

Rachel pursed her lips before taking a sip of water from her bottle. "He's a nice guy, Blaine."

"I know. That's why I don't want to screw this up." Blaine rubbed at his temples, trying to release the building tension.

"Then don't," Rachel quipped, patting his leg comfortingly. "I'll put in a good word for you." 

The next day at Warbler practice was another surprise – another mid-year transfer, Sebastian Smythe. Sebastian had transferred due to his father's relocation, and Blaine was pretty sure on first glance he was gay.

As Wes was introducing him, he eyed Blaine up and down and _licked his lips_. Okay, gay then.

Pavarotti was staying with Kurt because Sebastian was allergic to feathers, and Kurt didn't seem too put out by it. Kurt had mentioned he enjoyed taking care of the bird – back when he and Blaine were talking.

Sebastian approached Blaine as soon as practice ended. "So you must be the elusive Blaine Anderson," he said with a grin. "Your reputation precedes you."

_Great._ He returned Sebastian's smile. "I hope you haven't listened to all of it," Blaine joked, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Kurt slip out of the room, birdcage in hand.

Sebastian laughed loudly. "I can tell we'll be good friends, Blaine. I hear it's your duty to take all new Warblers out for coffee, or is that the part I'm not supposed to listen to?"

Blaine blinked and stared blankly back at him for a moment. He wasn't used to anyone being so forward. "Ah, yes, that is usually the tradition! When are you free?"

"Anytime you want, Blaine," he replied, his voice thick with intent. "Anytime you want. I'm free right now, in fact."

"Great!" Blaine replied, ignoring any and all subtext and throwing his bag over his shoulder. "To The Lima Bean, then?" 

"So, I hear you got a new Warbler. Cute?" Tina asked the next day at lunch. It was snowing out, so they were huddled in a corner of the Chickadee study eating. Rachel and some of the other Chickadees were on the other side of the room eating, and Blaine was really hoping they wouldn't ask him and Tina to join them.

"Yeah," Blaine replied quickly, and he was only aware of his tone when Tina's eyebrows shot up. "Shut up. Listen, he's attractive and nice and actually was interested in what I had to say – in fact, he kind of hung on my every word," he mused, thinking back. "It was nice to have a conversation like that from someone who didn't want something from me."

"What about Kurt?" Tina asked, brow furrowing. The million dollar question.

"What about Kurt," Blaine repeated under his breath. "I think I really screwed it up with Kurt. I like Kurt too much to drag him into … all of this." Blaine twirled his hands for emphasis.

"But not Sebastian?"

He turned to face Tina, her eyes searching his. "It's different," he mumbled, because it _was_ even if he couldn't pinpoint how. 

A few weeks later, the Chickadee and Warbler Annual Showcase was finally upon them. Both groups were frantically practicing, both together and separate and alone – it _consumed_ them. The showcase drew in donors and alumni, and the administration always made it clear the schools depended on the Showcase's donations each year. (No pressure, though.)

The Warblers met in their study a few hours before the Saturday evening performance, and Kurt was the last to arrive. Blaine could tell something was wrong from the look on his face. "I regret to inform you all that one of our own has fallen," he said quietly, before passing off a cassette tape to Trent and singing his heart out.

Blaine had never heard Kurt sing before, not really. His audition had been attended only by Wes, David, and Thad and he'd only barely been able to pinpoint Kurt's voice in the harmonies behind him as he led them to victory at Sectionals.

Blaine was blown away.

It was in that moment he realized no matter _how_ much he'd screwed up their friendship, or something more, or whatever – he had to fix it. He had to make this right between them. It was _a moment_, to say the least.

Why had Blaine been _so stupid_?

There was no time to talk to Kurt privately afterwards, Wes forcing them to run through their group numbers one last time. Just before show time, the deans of both schools met with the Chickadees and the Warblers backstage for a final pep talk. All of the hard work paid off because Blaine and his Warblers couldn't have been more on mark. His duets with Tina and Rachel were flawless, and 'Midnight Train to Georgia' went off without a hitch.

Both groups received standing ovations and backstage contained a mass of cheering and hugging. Blaine found Tina and twirled her around. "Not to brag, but our duet was the highlight of the night," Tina said, scrunching her face up. "I saw Mike in the audience too!"

Blaine let her go so she could go find her boyfriend, receiving more hugs and pats on the back from his fellow group mates. Just as he was letting go from David's shoulders, he turned to see Kurt standing behind him.

"Hey," Kurt said softly, almost unsure. "You – you were amazing."

"You were too," Blaine said, reaching out to pull Kurt close. "I'm so, so sorry about Pav, Kurt," he whispered, his breath ruffling Kurt's hair. "And just – I'm sorry for everything, okay?"

"I know," Kurt said quickly, his eyes a little damp, and shit, Blaine hadn't meant to make him cry. "I know. We'll talk later, okay? I have to go – dinner with my parents," he added with a shrug.

"Yeah, of course," Blaine breathed out, squeezing Kurt's arm one last time. "Thanks." He watched as Kurt wandered through the crowd towards his parents and Finn, Rachel standing by them talking animatedly.

"Hey, buddy," Blaine heard Sebastian say as he felt an arm crash around his shoulders. "Were we fantastic or what?"

Blaine turned to see Sebastian's smiling face and embraced him in a quick hug. He and Sebastian had gone out for coffee a few more times in the past weeks and he wasn't really sure what to make of it – he supposed now he knew it was because he still had feelings for Kurt. "We killed it!" Blaine exclaimed as he pulled away from Sebastian, clapping him on the back.

"You got any plans?" Sebastian asked. When Blaine shook his head, he continued. "You should get dinner with me. Two friends at Breadstix, come on!"

Blaine was poised to say no, now that he had his feelings sorted out, but the way Sebastian had phrased it – surely he wouldn't stop being friends with him just because he had feelings for Kurt, right? "Alright, fine, you twisted my arm," Blaine said before walking off to find his own parents, to inform them he wouldn't be home for dinner. 

Dinner with Sebastian was actually pretty enjoyable. The two of them had bantered back and forth, recapping the night's performances, and it was nice to get out with a friend that wasn't going to try to pretend sleep with him. That list was growing shorter and shorter.

They walked out to the parking lot and as Blaine went to get in his car, he said, "Thanks, Sebastian, I had fun tonight."

Sebastian's hand flew to shut Blaine's door and he grinned. "The night's not over yet," Sebastian said, and Blaine must have looked puzzled, because Sebastian whipped out a gift card to The Lima Mall.

Blaine's stomach twisted into knots. That list he was previously thinking of was just down to Tina, it seemed. "What … what are we saying we did?" Blaine asked, because just like Santana, he seemed like the kind of guy who would spread the rumor regardless.

It was Sebastian's turn to screw up his face in confusion. "It's two-hundred bucks, I assumed that would be enough to get me whatever I want," Sebastian said with his usual grin, reaching out to grab Blaine's ass and pull him closer to kiss him.

_Oh shit, Sebastian thought he got to actually sleep with me._ "Sebastian, that's not how it works," Blaine said, pulling back.

"It's okay, no need to be shy, Blaine," Sebastian said, diving in for another kiss. Blaine pushed him away.

"Sebastian, stop. I'm not actually letting people sleep with me for money … I'm just letting people spread rumors about sleeping with me for money." He backed up further to get some distance between him and Sebastian, wincing at how stupid his words sounded.

"How interesting. After I got to know you, I didn't think you'd actually have it in you, Blaine," Sebastian said, pocketing the gift card. "I mean, you_are_ sex on a stick and you sing like a dream, but you _really_ need to learn to let loose a little."

Sebastian didn't seem too offended, and shrugged his shoulders, starting to walk towards his car. "You know, I liked you, Sebastian. I would have actually gone out with you if you'd asked me without all this." Blaine waved his hands between them, and decided to conveniently leave out the fact that after Kurt's performance this afternoon, that had changed.

"No way to get you to reconsider?" Sebastian asked, turning around. "Because I've had dreams about that amazing ass of yours, Blaine."

Blaine flushed and shook his head. "Sorry."

"My loss indeed. See you around." Sebastian hopped in his car and peeled out of the Breadstix parking lot.

Blaine sighed as he unlocked his car again. He _had_ to stop this. He put the key in the ignition and turned, the sedan stalling. He tried again and again and again, but the engine wouldn't turn over. Of course. He pulled out his wallet and called AAA, and when the lady on the other line informed him it could be over an hour for a tow truck, he started to cry.

Which was stupid – Blaine knew he'd gotten himself into this mess. He had no one to blame but himself. He couldn't remember the last time he'd_really_ cried – probably a few years ago after his accident – but it felt good to let it all out. Luckily, none of the other Breadstix patrons walking to their cars noticed his sobbing.

The tow truck arrived in less than thirty minutes to Blaine's surprise. He grabbed a napkin from the center console and wiped up his face – he'd expected to have some time to get pulled together. He pulled his AAA card and license out of his wallet in case the tow truck driver needed identification, and to his surprise _Kurt_ hopped out of the truck.

"Blaine, are you okay? I thought your car just wouldn't start – you're not _hurt_ right?"

Crap.

"I'm fine!" Blaine replied a little too cheerily as he walked over to where Kurt was standing alongside the tow truck. "What – since when are you AAA?"

"My dad – well, he gets AAA alerts at home and I saw your name come through and convinced him to let me come. Which – I've done this before," Kurt suddenly blurted out, like Blaine wouldn't trust him with his car or something (if only Kurt knew, Blaine would trust him with _everything_). "Your car isn't going to go rolling down the highway or anything, I know what I'm doing."

"I trust you," Blaine said and it was insane, but he was so, so happy to see Kurt. It was as if his mood instantly lifted when he was around.

"You sure you're okay? And it really just won't start?" Kurt eyed the car wearily before turning himself back to Blaine. "You don't look okay, Blaine."

"I told you, I'm fine – I just had a bad night." Kurt raised an eyebrow, because how could his night get so awful in the three hours they'd been apart, but he didn't pry further. "Um, if you want to look the car over, I don't know. It drove fine from Dalton to here. I should probably call my parents," he added, grabbing his phone from his pocket.

Kurt nodded and walked over to pop the hood of Blaine's sedan. "Call them, I'll look things over." Blaine watched Kurt hunched over his car for a bit, his breath coming out in misty gusts since it was freezing out, until finally Kurt reminded him, "Didn't you have a phone call to make?"

Blaine called his parents to let them know he was on his way home with a busted car and Kurt told him what he found under his hood, which made no sense to Blaine, but it boiled down to something with his engine. "It's my mom's old car, it's pretty much as old as me," Blaine said as he watched Kurt load the car onto the tow truck.

"Someone's taken good care of her," Kurt said when he was finished. He motioned to the cab of the tow truck. "Hop in."

Kurt pulled slowly out of the Breadstix parking lot to the main road and once they were heading down the street, he broke the silence. "Did you want to talk about it?" Kurt bit his lip as he stared out onto the road, as if he was unsure whether or not he should say anything or if they should keep walking on eggshells around each other.

_Not really._ "I don't know what to say," Blaine replied after a beat, because he _didn't_. "Everything's just gotten so messed up."

Kurt took his right hand off the wheel just long enough to reach out and squeeze Blaine's hand. "I want to help," he said, pulling his hand back so he could steer and not end them both up in a ditch. "If you'll let me, I mean."

Blaine's words caught in his throat. He wanted help more than anything; he wanted to tell Kurt so badly – the words just wouldn't come. He stared at his hands folded in his lap.

"Rachel told me you didn't actually sleep with her," Kurt finally said, and Blaine's head snapped to attention so he was facing Kurt. Why would Rachel do that? _I'll put in a good word for you._ "So, I'm operating on the assumption that you didn't actually sleep with any of them."

"Yeah, something like that," Blaine whispered. How long had Kurt known? "Do people at school really think I'm a prostitute?" he blurted out, which was not what he meant to say at _all_, but there it was.

"I hadn't heard that one," Kurt said slowly, his eyebrows knitting together, "but I'm guessing someone did?"

"You're two for two," Blaine muttered. He tore his gaze away from Kurt and returned it to his hands. "I just – I know it sounds crazy, but I just wanted to help people and then it really – it just got away from me."

"You're a little strange, Blaine, has anyone ever told you that?" Blaine raised his head enough to see Kurt smirking.

"You haven't met my parents. It would all make sense then," he teased back. "I'm just – I'm tired of it all, you know?"

"If you're tired of it all, just stop, Blaine. Don't worry about hurting people's feelings. Just come out and tell the truth and get on with your life." Blaine thought he might be imagining it, but there was a little glint of _something_ in Kurt's eyes when he said that – hope? "If I learned anything from being at McKinley, it's that you have to look out for yourself."

Kurt was right – Blaine needed to come up with an exit strategy. He needed to be _done_. "You sounded wonderful on Blackbird today. You – well, you took my breath away. Why didn't you audition for the Showcase?"

Kurt shrugged. "I'm used to fighting to be noticed. The Warblers don't work like that. I'm just trying to figure out my place here, you know?"

"You shouldn't have to fight to be noticed, Kurt. When you sang today, _everyone_ took notice. Your voice is just that beautiful. That was _a moment_for me, Kurt. A moment that helped me realize how I felt about you." Blaine turned in his seat to face Kurt, his eyes still on the road, and he reached out to squeeze Kurt's shoulder.

Kurt averted his eyes from the road just momentarily to meet Blaine's. "I should have sang for you all two months ago," he said, chuckling.

"It would have saved us both a lot of grief," Blaine agreed, finally paying attention to their surroundings. They were turning onto Blaine's street. "How – how did you know how to get to my house?"

"Oh," Kurt said, flushing slightly. "That night at Rachel's party. When you insisted on walking instead of me driving you home? I was worried, so I followed you to make sure you got home okay."

"You didn't even know me then," Blaine said quietly. _Tina had gushed about me to you all day, and then you thought I slept with __**a girl**__ and you still wanted to make sure I got home okay._ "Kurt," Blaine said as Kurt parked the tow truck outside his house. They both unbuckled their seatbelts and turned to face each other.

"I know, that's kind of stalkery of me, but." Kurt was still blushing and looking everywhere but Blaine's eyes. Blaine reached out for Kurt's hands, holding them in his own.

"That's not the word I'd use," Blaine said, Kurt's palms warm against his even though the air was cold. Kurt finally locked eyes with him and inched closer, closer until he was close enough that they were breathing the same air and their lips were almost touching. "Wait," Blaine said, pulling back just slightly and putting a hand on Kurt's shoulder to still him. "I wasn't kidding when I said firsts should be special, and if there's anything I've learned through this whole mess, it's that. I want to, Kurt, it's just – let me deal with all of this first, okay? The last thing I want to do is hurt you."

"You wouldn't hurt me," Kurt said, his voice breathy and it was taking every ounce of self-restraint Blaine had to not just up and kiss him right then. "I trust you too, you know."

"I'm glad," Blaine said quietly. He was staring at Kurt's lips for far too long and he really had to stop before he did something else he'd live to regret. Change of subject? "I'm also really, really glad you showed up to save me and my car instead of some random tow truck driver."

"I wasn't kidding about wanting to help," Kurt added, squeezing Blaine's hands one last time before letting go.

"I'll keep that in mind." 

_Part five – When one realizes they might need to get out, that's when shit really gets real._

_To say this whole thing had taken over my life was a colossal understatement. I actually reread The Scarlet Letter – you know, in my free time when I wasn't hooking up with the whole school – just to see how Hester dealt with it. She stayed silent._

_You can see I took her advice to heart._

Blaine walked across the courtyard Monday afternoon, still trying to formulate his plan to _fix_ all of this, hoping to hammer it out with Tina at lunch, but she'd been out sick (and from texts, Blaine had reason to believe she was cutting to spend time with Mike). Just as he was walking to his fifth period class, before he could even get to Dalton's doors, Quinn walked up to him in front of half the student body, and slapped him across the face before turning on her heel and marching off.

Blaine's hand flew to his cheek – Quinn Fabray didn't mess around. _That stung._ Also – _what the hell_? Blaine finally found his bearings and stood back up straight and tall, realizing everyone was still _staring_. He knew Quinn worked in Mr. Schuster's office fifth period, so he made his way to the guidance office in search of her.

He didn't find Quinn – but he did find Mr. Schuster having a mental breakdown, for lack of a better word. He heard swearing and glass shattering, and he gingerly knocked on the office door, cracking it. "What do you want, Blaine?" Mr. Schuster shouted, and oh god, Tina was right, _he was crazy_.

Blaine just stared at him, eyes wide, before saying, "I'm actually just looking for Quinn, have you seen her?"

Mr. Schuster swore under his breath. "Why are you looking for Quinn Fabray?"

"She just walked up to me in the middle of the courtyard and slapped me. While I'm sure it's something she wants to do on a daily basis, she's never actually done that before. I was just wondering what prompted her to do that today." Blaine thought this information would calm Mr. Schuster down, since it wasn't about him, but apparently it had the opposite effect. He spun around and literally banged his head against the wall. "Mr. Schuster?"

"That's my fault. It's all my fault, Blaine," Mr. Schuster shouted, collapsing in his chair, and Blaine came through the door and shut it behind him.

"I'm sorry – what?" Blaine asked, sitting down in the seat across from him. Mr. Schuster continued to utter profanities, and Blaine finally said, "As entertaining as this is, Mr. Schuster, I don't think you're supposed to swear in front of students."

"Yeah, well you're not supposed to sleep with them either! _Fuck, fuck, fuck,_" he exclaimed, and _what the hell was going on_?

"Um, Mr. Schuster, sorry to be blunt, but what in the hell does that have to do with me?" Blaine asked, not really wanting to know the answer, but knowing he needed to.

Mr. Schuster started rambling about how his relationship with Ms. Holiday was on the rocks and this great looking guy started coming in for weekly sessions (_wait, guy?_), and he's not a minor, so it's perfectly legal, and Mr. Schuster was only so strong, and now the kid somehow got chlamydia, and his parents were flipping out because he's part of Celibacy Club, what was he doing with _chlamydia_ and a light bulb went off in Blaine's head.

Mr. Schuster was having an affair with _Thad_. _Thad has chlamydia._

"Mr. Schuster," Blaine finally said, cutting him. "Mr. Schuster, did Thad … did Thad tell his parents he got it from me?"

That snapped Mr. Schuster out of it. "He didn't want me to lose my job. And he didn't want to get in trouble. And …" Mr. Schuster looked clearly conflicted, which Blaine would probably care more about if he hadn't been dragged into all of it. "I'm sorry, Blaine, I'm going to make it right. I'll just lose my job … and my relationship … and move in with my parents … and become an accountant …" He stared at the wall behind Blaine as if everything was hitting him right then, not, oh, _whenever he started to sleep with Thad_.

"Mr. Schuster, are you gay?" Out of all the things that were going through Blaine's mind, _that's_ what slipped out?

"No. Well, maybe. I don't know! I'm not into labels like you kids, okay?" Mr. Schuster was getting agitated again.

"Cheater's a good one," Blaine muttered under his breath, but Mr. Schuster caught it.

"I know you think I'm a horrible person, Blaine, which is fine, but I'm not. I help people, Blaine."

Blaine wanted to laugh, because of all of the people to help Blaine these past few months, Mr. Schuster certainly wasn't on the list.

"You know, I could just keep quiet, Blaine, because really, who would people believe? A respected teacher and guidance counselor, or you, a student with a bad reputation already?"

_I don't know, but we're going to find out._

Blaine hated himself for what he did next. It was wrong, so wrong, and it was done out of anger – and nothing good comes from doing things out of anger, right? He marched straight into Ms. Holiday's room and found her sitting at her desk, probably getting things together for the next class.

"Blaine, is everything okay?" she asked at the sight of him. He probably looked insane, out of breath from running across the campus.

"Your fiancé is cheating on you with a student and gave him chlamydia and is trying to blame me … and I'm sorry."

The look on Ms. Holiday's face would stick in his head for far too long. He quickly turned and _ran_. 

_Out of all the things I did wrong – and yeah, I know, there's a lot of them, how long is this video so far? Anyways – this was the one that hurt me the most, hurting one of my favorite teachers. Ms. Holiday, if you're watching, know how very, very sorry I am. Even if it was true, I hate that you found out from me._

Blaine skipped out on school the rest of the day, heading home and finding his mom already there, so he told her everything.

"You know I can relate, Blaine, I can relate to what you're going through," she said as she preened at his hair, tucking some curls behind his ears.

"What, people spread rumors about you in high school?" Blaine asked, leaning his head on her shoulder as she put her arm around him.

"Yes, people spread rumors about me sleeping around in high school. Though they were actually true, I was kind of _open_ in that way."

"Oh my god, Mom, you're not making me feel any better," Blaine said, wanting to bury his head in the couch pillows, because _no one_ wants to know about their parents having sex. No one.

"What? Don't worry, it was mostly guys too," she teased and Blaine just groaned.

"I guess I know why you didn't have a hard time with me coming out," he offered and she laughed.

"Honey, your father and I are also awesome people. I think that had more to do with it." Blaine turned to his mother and her eyes were twinkling from the sunlight coming through the window, and he had to agree at the awesome part. "So, what is your plan, my wonderful son?" She wrapped her arms around him again, pulling him close and peppering his face with kisses.

"I don't know. I'm sure I'll figure something out," he said in between laughs.

"That you will, Blaine. You'll do much better than I did because you're way smarter than I was at your age." She squeezed at his shoulder and got up. "Now, since you're home early I'm going to put you to work. Come help me with dinner." 

The idea came to him that night when he was talking to Tina. A video. Everything in his own words, out on the internet for all to see. It just so happened Crawford and Dalton had a joint assembly the next day to pump everyone full of school spirit just before final exams – it made sense to someone, Blaine supposed.

The Warblers were supposed to perform, of course, so Blaine texted Wes to see if they could meet early before school. He told him _everything_, and Wes was appalled that Thad would throw Blaine under the bus, so to speak, which meant he was on board with letting Blaine run the Warblers number.

Everything was better with a musical number, right?

Blaine convinced some of the Chickadees to help, Tina, Rachel, and a few of their friends, and when the Warblers were supposed to come out singing 'Hey Soul Sister,' instead five Chickadees and Nick, Jeff, Kurt, and Wes backed Blaine in 'S&M'. Their dance moves were probably the raunchiest the school had ever seen, but Blaine needed to make sure everyone tuned in, right?

When they were done, Blaine informed everyone to be at .com at six pm, which was all he got out before the dean was attempting to drag them off stage. "Before you expel me, you might want to check with Mr. Schuster, I'm sure he'll convince you otherwise," Blaine whispered at him. "I wouldn't have to stoop to this level if it weren't for him." Blaine extricated himself from the dean's grasp, grabbing Kurt with one hand and Tina with the other, shouting his URL one more time before running out of the auditorium. 

_And that brings us up to date, folks. Sorry for the lack of nudity that you all assumed would be here, but you'll have to find that on some other website, because right now, I have a date with a very special someone, and hopefully the rest of my love life will be none of your goddamn business anymore. Bye!_

Blaine left the webcam running, a blank shot of his room as he ran out the door and out to his car. He stopped off to buy some flowers before heading to Kurt's house, a bouquet of roses, pink and red-tipped-yellow ones for _thank you_ and _falling in love_. He parked in Kurt's driveway and no sooner had he gotten out of the car was Kurt racing down the driveway to meet him.

"You _idiot_," he shouted as he ran, and Blaine just laughed at the sight of him moving so fast.

"I take it you watched?" Blaine asked, walking to meet him halfway across the yard and extending his hand with the flowers.

"Something like that," Kurt said, taking the flowers and setting them on the ground beside where they stood. Kurt was already changed out of his uniform. Blaine hadn't had time to switch clothes, but he really didn't mind when Kurt reached out for his tie, pulling him closer and colliding their lips together. Kurt fisted his hand in the back of Blaine's blazer as their mouths slid against each other, give and take until Blaine heard a shout from behind Kurt's back.

"Get it, Blaine!" It was Rachel, standing in the doorway with Finn, and they both chuckled at her voice.

"So, Blaine Anderson, was that special enough for you?" Kurt asked coyly, and Blaine kind of just wanted to kiss him again right there.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that since it's your first real kiss?" Blaine asked with a tilt of his head.

"It was the best," Kurt replied, honest and earnest and Blaine couldn't help it, he leaned in to kiss him again, grinning at the surprised noise Kurt made against his lips. "The second one was pretty good too," he murmured when they broke. "I suppose I'll have to ask you to rate the specialness when we move onto other firsts, since you couldn't answer this one for me."

"Good plan," Blaine replied. "I'll be happy if I just get to kiss you again, though."

Kurt chuckled, low in his throat, and said, "Maybe we should move inside since we have an audience and I'm not exactly dressed for the weather, no matter how warm you feel." He picked his roses up off the ground and held out his hand for Blaine to take. "Come on."

Blaine grasped Kurt's hand and followed him inside, giddy for all of the firsts he'd get to experience with Kurt, even if it wasn't tonight. Which was fine – Blaine intended to stick around for a long, long time.


End file.
